This thesis concerns the cultural meanings of zar spirit possession in Hofriyat, a Northern Sudanese village. It begins with an interpretive analysis of the Hofriyati everyday world, showing village kinship, marriage, and prevalent customs such as female circumcision to be informed by a common idiom: "interiority" or relative enclosure. In Part II it proceeds to discuss, in terms of that idiom, contexts in which the possession idiom might be invoked: who claims to be possessed, and under what conditions. Here it emerges that zar possession plays an important role in the negotiation and renegotiation of meaning by "rephrasing" interpersonal conflict, symbolically restructuring certain life experiences for the Hofriyati, and effecting realignments of kin relations and social positions in ways deemed favorable to the possessed. Next comes a comparison of the zar propitiation ritual and the local wedding ceremony, in which zar is seen to operate as a meta-cultural text, a comment upon the realities of everyday life and the informative idiom of village culture. This idea is carried forward into Part III, where the system of zar beliefs and spirit manifestations is discussed in its own right. Here possession is viewed as an esthetic form and ' potential messages to be derived from the identities and associations of the spirits are considered. In sum, this thesis is an attempt to describe Hofriyati cultural meanings — the logic of everyday life, its negotiation through acknowledgement of possession affliction, and its secondary or meta-cultural elaboration in ritual and in the system of zar beliefs. It draws principally upon the works of symbolic anthropologists such as Geertz, Turner, and Crapanzano, and upon the insights of Paul Ricoeur for theoretical guidance. However, the "theory of Hofriyati culture" which emerges in the dissertation is understood to be the result of interactions between the researcher and her Hofriyati informants. The thesis is an interpretation, a special sort of negotiated meaning. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The thesis examines the use of traditional literacy promulgated by the Koranic schools among the Berti in the Northern Darfur Province of the Republic of the Sudan. This literacy is restricted both in the scope of its use as well as in its social distribution, which remains limited to religious specialists - fakis. Instead of leading to a change in the traditional mode of thought, Berti literacy contributes considerably to maintaining the homeostatic tendency supposedly characteristic of oral societies. Literacy plays an important role in the Berti religious life. The words of God contained in the Koran and other books widely used by the fakis are considered to be sacred, and an important aspect of Berti religion is their internalisation in the form of memorisation, drinking of erasure and the retaining of amulets (hijbat). The repetition of sacred words is used as a means of invoking God in communal rituals and the rites of passage. Literacy underlies book divination practised by the fakis and its literate origin is the ultimate sanction of sand divination which is primarily practised by the illiterate Berti. In their use of the sacred words in healing, divination, communal rituals, rites of passage and the preparation of amulets and erasure, Berti fakis impose their own meaning on the Koranic text which differs considerably from its theological meaning. The thesis includes translation and analysis of over 50 original texts pertaining to erasure writing, amulets, book divination and communal rituals. Photocopies of 25 original amulets are presented in the thesis and the majority of them are translated and commented upon.

Estimates suggest that seventy percent of Muslims follow folk Islam (popular Islam), rather than the orthodox Islamic faith. Most methods for reaching Muslims with the Gospel have concentrated on one of two broad approaches with a third blending the first two methods. Apologetic, polemic and dialogue techniques argue that Christianity is more valid or reasonable than Islam. Other approaches consist of contextualized methods seeking some common ground between Christianity and Islam. Apologetic arguments have not been very effective with folk Muslims because cognitive propositions fail to answer the “why” questions posed by popular Islam. Most contextualized methods also miss the mark with folk Muslims; they rarely attend Islamic worship, observe the five pillars of Islam, or read the Qur’an. A few missiologists propose a fourth category for reaching Muslims – contextualizing according to their worldview. This thesis explores what are the best approaches for evangelizing folk Muslims who are particularly influenced by African Traditional Religion (ATR). The Beja tribe of the Sudan and the Sukuma tribe of Tanzania serve as case studies. I argue for a contextualized approach to folk Muslims, addressing their unique worldviews. ATRinfluenced folk Muslims lean toward a fear-power worldview, while the Sufis among them hold to an existential- transcendent worldview. Each group, therefore, necessitates a different evangelism approach. The first chapter presents preliminary matters, the research question, a literature review, and a rationale for the thesis. The second chapter analyzes the case study example of Beja folk Islam. Chapter three examines folk Islam and its relationship to orthodox Islam,including further illustrations from the Beja tribe. The fourth chapter explores the subject of ATR and its relationship to folk Islam. The Sukuma tribe of Tanzania serves as a base-line model of ATR for a comparison with Beja folk Islam. Chapter five introduces the topic of contextualization in Muslim evangelization and assesses the effectiveness and validity of methods that have been used. Chapter six suggests worldview approaches for reaching ATR and Sufi-influenced folk Muslims. The final chapter summarizes the thesis content, reviews the response to the research question, and analyzes the implications of the findings of the case study. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

Estimates suggest that seventy percent of Muslims follow folk Islam (popular Islam), rather than the orthodox Islamic faith. Most methods for reaching Muslims with the Gospel have concentrated on one of two broad approaches with a third blending the first two methods. Apologetic, polemic and dialogue techniques argue that Christianity is more valid or reasonable than Islam. Other approaches consist of contextualized methods seeking some common ground between Christianity and Islam. Apologetic arguments have not been very effective with folk Muslims because cognitive propositions fail to answer the “why” questions posed by popular Islam. Most contextualized methods also miss the mark with folk Muslims; they rarely attend Islamic worship, observe the five pillars of Islam, or read the Qur’an. A few missiologists propose a fourth category for reaching Muslims – contextualizing according to their worldview. This thesis explores what are the best approaches for evangelizing folk Muslims who are particularly influenced by African Traditional Religion (ATR). The Beja tribe of the Sudan and the Sukuma tribe of Tanzania serve as case studies. I argue for a contextualized approach to folk Muslims, addressing their unique worldviews. ATRinfluenced folk Muslims lean toward a fear-power worldview, while the Sufis among them hold to an existential- transcendent worldview. Each group, therefore, necessitates a different evangelism approach. The first chapter presents preliminary matters, the research question, a literature review, and a rationale for the thesis. The second chapter analyzes the case study example of Beja folk Islam. Chapter three examines folk Islam and its relationship to orthodox Islam,including further illustrations from the Beja tribe. The fourth chapter explores the subject of ATR and its relationship to folk Islam. The Sukuma tribe of Tanzania serves as a base-line model of ATR for a comparison with Beja folk Islam. Chapter five introduces the topic of contextualization in Muslim evangelization and assesses the effectiveness and validity of methods that have been used. Chapter six suggests worldview approaches for reaching ATR and Sufi-influenced folk Muslims. The final chapter summarizes the thesis content, reviews the response to the research question, and analyzes the implications of the findings of the case study. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)